Memories of Yesterday
by GoldenFox9
Summary: Shakespeare. I never liked his plays. So how come that I somehow landed in my own twisted version of Romeo and Juliet, where the feuding families were replaced by warring clans and instead of honorable knights there were shinobi everywhere? SI-OC
1. Of Serial Killers and the Living Dead

**This is my first story ever. I hope there aren't too many grammatical or spelling mistakes. The inspiration for this story came from all the good SI fanfictions I have read till now. Sadly, the updates probably wont be regular but I will try my best.**

 **It has come to my attention that there aren't really many SI into this timeline of the story, so I have decided to change that. The anime and manga don't mention many specifics about this time line, so I'll have to make up many things myself. If you have any questions or suggestions you are welcome to review or PM me.**

 **The mention of Romeo and Juliet in the description should be a hint to this being a love story. But as the story will start at the beginning of my protagonist's life there wont be any love for some time. So, if you're a sucker for romance, I'm sorry to disappoint you; it'll take a while till we come to that point.**

 **Rating for this chapter: T for some swearing and mild depiction of depression.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Naruto characters or its plot. Hisako and all the changes I make are mine.**

 **Summary: Shakespeare. I never liked his plays. So how come that I somehow landed in my own twisted version of Romeo and Juliet, where the feuding families were replaced by warring clans and instead of honorable knights there were shinobi everywhere? Self-Insert/OC-Insert**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 _Chapter 1_

 _Of Serial Killers and the Living Dead  
_

* * *

 _I thought I'd be alright today  
I thought I'd be alive today  
Give me your eyes, I'll show you things  
You never dreamed you thought you'd see_

 _I thought this light would comfort me  
I thought it would be easy  
But there's a tugging at my sleeve  
So much baggage I brought with me to leave_

 _Something so big I can't understand from trying to I would go mad_  
 _So I hurry back to little earth for another life, another birth_

 _Another life another birth_

 _Mother?_

 _–Toad The Wet Sprocket, Reincarnation Song_

* * *

Dying itself wasn't a horrible experience. It's what happens before and follows afterwards what is truly fear inspiring. Take me for example; I died on my sixteenth birthday, killed by serial killers.

It was a normal day, really. I woke up and my prepared myself for the day. A birthday breakfast greeted me after I left my room. Pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs. Everything a glutton like me could wish for. My mom even baked some of my favorite cookies.

There wasn't much time for me to enjoy the whole thing. It was a Friday, thus I still had to go to school.

My boyfriend, Matt, picked me up and drove me there. It was quite obvious that there was no love between us, but we did enjoy our time together.

I wasn't overly popular at school, yet I wasn't disliked either. Actually, I was completely average. I had a boyfriend, friends and mediocre grades. Your average high school student.

When we finally arrived at school, I was greeted by my two best friends, Sarah and Anna. They informed me about the plans they had made for the day.

Sarah has gotten us some fake ID's and we planed to sneak into a club. I wasn't sure if the guards would let us in, the ID's didn't seem to be very convincing.

By some stroke of luck or karma as I would later call it, the guard did not even look twice at our fake ID's.

We partied for a few hours, drinking so much alcohol that we could hardly stand on our feet. Earlier that day the three of us decided that we would make my birthday a girls night. Meaning: no boys allowed. It was what we planned, anyway.

Of course it did not end that way.

It was around midnight when we were approached by two guys. Leering at us three, they had asked my friends to dance with them.

Anna and Sarah had always been such bitches. They accepted the invitations, too drunk and ignorant to see that they were leaving me behind. Alone.

Girls only. _Fucking liars._

I ordered a drink at the bar and sat down on a chair all by my lonesome. Just as I wanted to pay for it the bartender told me that some guy had already done so for me. A guy who would soon become my worst nightmare.

Unfortunately, it wasn't hard to find the mystery guy. He sat only a few seats away from me and raised his drink in greeting.

''You look rather sad, don't you?'' Was the first thing he ever said to me.

And I was. My two best friends preferred to fool around with some random guys rather than spend my birthday with me. I was surrounded by people I didn't know and could feel a migraine approaching.

What shitty birthday that was.

 _If only I had known._

The stranger who payed for my drink and soon started conversing with me was like a beam of sunshine on a dreary day.

He had charmed me with his words and attracted me with his looks.

Blonde hair, striking blue eyes and a British accent. He was perfect. A perfect predator.

During our time in the club he told me his name; Jason Smith. Like the foolish little girl I was, I decided to spend the rest of my night with him, loosing the sight of friends in the process.

When the time came for me to go home, Jason volunteered to drive me.

I should have listened to my mom when she said I should never trust strangers because the moment I entered his car my destiny was sealed.

I am sure that you have already guessed that he did not take me home. No, he kidnapped me into some kind of warehouse. It was there that I met his younger sister. She was just as beautiful, just as charming and just as _deadly_ as he was.

Before I tell you what happened next, I will better explain the background story. In Chicago, where I lived back then, a serial killer had been on the run for about two months. At night that person or as I found out the people would kidnap inhabitants of Chicago and murder them in different ways. The victims only had two things in common; they were young, most of them only teenagers, and always had a ' _J'_ engraved on their wrists.

Compared to the other victims' deaths, mine hasn't been the most brutal one. That did not mean it hadn't scarred my soul irreparably.

They pushed me in chair and secured me to it. Then they bound wires around my fingers.

It began with a slight tingling sensation and ended with the most unbearable pain I had ever felt.

I died after being electrocuted countless of times.

I was the 8th victim and when death finally came to embrace me, I welcomed it with open arms, not knowing that hell was awaiting me.

* * *

Death. It always seemed to be so far away. I was still a teenager, young and so full of life. There should have been decades before me.

Death had no right to touch me with its cold hands, grasp me and rip me out of everything I knew.

Fair and unfair. An entity like death did not care about whom it was coming for. An elderly man or a newborn child. At the end it would come for everyone.

That's one thing that all humans shared.

When I woke up that fateful day dying had not even crossed my mind. After a few hours there was nothing I wanted more than to finally be free. Even if being free meant to cease existing.

I had never thought about what would happen when my breathing stopped and my heart ceased to beat. My old life was left behind without an inkling of what was awaiting me.

The worst thing about my whole situation was the uncertainty about what had transpired. Why could I feel the warmth surrounding me? Had I really died? Maybe all this was a dream?

It would take me a long time to realize that I had indeed died and even longer to accept that I was reborn.

At the beginning my senses seemed to be really dull. I couldn't see, feel or hear anything. Was I paralyzed? Perhaps in a coma?

That's what I thought back then.

I continued floating in the dark abyss. Time had no meaning here. Silence became my unwanted companion. I was alone.

I would never forget the moment when I perceived something for the first time. Hearing. I admit, it was muffled, as if someone was holding pillows to my ears. I also believed that the first thing I heard was another humans heartbeat. It wasn't the most pleasant of sounds but after such a long period of silence I enjoyed it. Besides, it did not take me long to get used to it. Adjusting to repeated sounds was actually a normal human thing. If one kept hearing the same sound over and over again, it just 'ceased to exist'.

The second sense that returned to me was touch. The warmth surrounding me like a blanket. Human skin. A prisoner like me? That couldn't be right. Someone else was there, someone who made me feel safe and I was sure that whoever it was, wasn't a prisoner.

Where was I? Did the siblings let me go? Did someone free me? Maybe I truly was waking from a coma?

I remembered the time when a hand grabbed mine. I was so surprised, yet I shouldn't have been. The hold wasn't even tight. I felt at peace. I became very dependent on that person. Or as dependent as one could become on someone they did not see, hear or talk to.

Our life-could this even be called life?-continued steadily. I had no perception of how long we were there. At some point I even managed to glimpse something. It was as if I was looking at the sun with closed eyes. My normally black surroundings changed into light hues of orange and pink. It was warmer than usually.

It was back then that I realized that I wasn't with the siblings anymore. It wasn't possible.

And so I allowed myself to relax. I would be lying if I said that I was fine. I had no idea where I was. About what would happen to me. My future was full of unanswered questions. But that wasn't the worst of it. While I feared the future, it was my past which continued to haunt me. I would never forget what those _monsters_ did to me. The memories just did not want to disappear from the forefront of my mind. They have scarred my soul irreparably.

Fear. It was what they taught me. I did not believe that I would feel such a burning, breath stealing fear as I felt in their presence ever again. Those believes were shattered the moment my silent companion was taken from me. One moment he was there, then he was gone.

The space around us has been getting smaller-or maybe we were getting bigger?- for a while by then. The walls pushing us together, till not even a sheet of paper would have fit between us. Then the contractions started.I felt my companion being ripped from me, leaving me alone.

You can't imagine the amount of fear that was coursing through my veins back then. My heart furiously beating against my rib cage. Eyes frantically trying to find my companion in the darkness.

Then my turn came. I was pushed out into the cold. The light was blinding me.I could hear the cry of an infant. Large hands were holding me.

I did the only thing I could. I cried.

* * *

There was something fucking wrong with this place. Not only were the people huge, like _really_ huge, towering over me like giants, but there was also this weird energy the air, in the other humans-were they even humans?-, inside of _me_. I could feel it since the moment I was pushed into the fresh air. It was like an irritating itch.

I could feel it under my skin. Buzzing like small insects. Have I mentioned before that I hate insects? No? Well, I do. Unfortunately, this wasn't even my worst problem. It was the energy in the air which made me sometimes feel like I was drowning. So heavy and full of power that at times I could not breath properly.

This energy enabled me to locate every person in my vicinity as well. My senses were overloaded. And that's exactly what it was. A sixth sense. The ability to locate everyone who was near me. To see without looking. I hated it. All this was to much for me.

As if all that wasn't enough, the people here also spoke another language. It sounded Asian. If you haven't already guessed, I did not speak whatever language that was. The only contact I had with the Eastern culture was the instant noodle restaurant next door and the subbed anime and dramas I used to watch. Which means that I had no idea where the hell I was. This did not keep me from wondering,of course. The first thing I could think of was that someone kidnapped me for a second time. Then there was also the hypothesis of me still being in a coma.

The other things I could think of were not worth mentioning. I wouldn't want anyone to think that I was crazy.

Something to add to my mountain of problems were my nightmares. If you believe that one can just forget what I have been through, you are solely mistaken. After all if it were like this, psychiatrists wouldn't be needed. And I seriously needed one. Even if the only thing he could do for me was prescribing me some sleeping pills.

Apparently my new kidnappers did not believe that there was something wrong with me; robbing me of my needed sleep and the few hours I did manage to sleep through with a wailing infant. Fucking morons.

Did I already mention that there was something wrong with my vocal chords. I couldn't talk or rather form any actual words. All that came out of my mouth were some incoherent babbles. My motor skills sucked as well. Let's not even talk about my eyesight.

Another thing to complain about were the feeding periods. Every few hours someone would come into the room and give us a tasteless broth.

With us I mean the wailing infant always laying besides me. I think that those two things should have clued me in on my situation. And even if they didn't, the familiar presence of my silent companion besides me should.

Well after a few weeks it did. Only after I gave up on that denial thing, of course. At that time my eyesight was almost clear and I slowly started to understand some words. I was a little miffed when I noticed that the people I had dubbed as some grotesque giants looked like normal humans. There was a handful visiting us and now I did not only recognize them by their weird energy but also by their appearance.

A woman with white hair and red eyes visited the room more often than the others. You've read right; white hair and red eyes, isn't that freaky. My not so silent companion had the same traits, which probably meant that he was her son. Were they were some kind of albinos?

Anyway, one day she decided to change the routine in which she came into the room and took care of us. She picked me up and took me out of the room. Back then I did not know if I should be elated as I was leaving that boring room for the first time since I got there or if I should be terrified because she was separating me from my silent companion.

Knowing that if she really wanted to hurt me I wouldn't be able to do anything against it, I choose the former. Attentively, I watched my surroundings. What shocked me was that there did not seem to be any modern technologies. No electricity. That was a dreadful observation. And I did not only say that because I was addicted to the internet. There were many other things I needed that one thing for. I am sure you yourself can think about quiet a lot of them.

My agitation only grew when she stopped in front of a mirror. I wasn't there, I couldn't see myself in it. How was that possible? Could it be that I truly was dead? Was I a ghost?

Those thoughts were brought to an abrupt stop, or rather crashed like sports car driving at its upper speeds into a tree. This happened momentarily when I moved my arm up. One of the two reflections did as well. With one of the reflections I mean a baby the white-haired woman was holding in her arms. I tried it again and again and again. No matter what part of my body I moved, the baby in the mirror repeated it.

My first thought, _Shit_ _,_ closely followed by a panicked shriek.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, I was a baby. Second, there was a part of me-and I didn't know how potent that part might be-that had known this for some time now. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably screwed.

Did you get the reference. No? Well, it probably wasn't the right time to use some random Bella Swan quotations and changing them so they fit my situation. But I'm still pretty sure that everyone got the picture. I lived. I died. I was reborn.

Following that grand event were a few heart attack inducing revelations. The first one being my new name.

 _Senju Hisako_

Does that ring any bells? Probably not. To me it didn't either, that is until I heard the names of my new brothers. There were only two words which could summarize how I felt the moment I found out their identity. Mind fucked. To make sure everyone else gets my point I shall graciously inform you of their names.

 _My older brother Senju Hashirama and my twin Senju Tobirama._

So yeah. I was in an anime. Naruto to be exact. In the warring states era. _Sengoku Jidai._ I mean, if had to be reborn, why couldn't I have been put in a time-line I knew at least a few things about. It would have been even better to be reborn after the Fourth Shinobi War. At least it would have been peaceful. I would have probably chosen to be a civilian. That would have been fun. Sadly, I was reborn into one of the bloodiest times this universe would ever see.

From what I have gathered these times were one of the most dangerous ones. Every clan fought for itself. There were no war rules to uphold, no easy treaties to make. If you were caught by another clan, they would kill you. In the future, Konoha would be one of the strongest villages. Clan wise, that is. Which means that there were more chances at survival.

Knowing what I know about this world and my rotten luck, I would probably end up being murdered once again. I winced at that. Still too early for such comments.

Anyway,back to my brothers. When I heard their names for the first time I had to seriously stop myself from fangirling. Chibi Hashirama and Tobirama were just too cute.

Doesn't that say something about my supposed sanity. I don't believe there is much left of it.

Where was I? My brothers, yes. After my initial bout of insanity, I took my time to inspect them. Hashirama did not seem much older than my current body. About three to four years old, I believe. He had chocolate-did they even have chocolate here?-brown hair and eyes. His hair had a bowl-cut and he was always wearing light clothes. His hands were already starting to get calloused. I expected a lot of this man, no child, but not the innocence I saw shining in his eyes.

Then there was Tobirama. My twin brother. My silent companion. It were his quiet intakes of air which helped me fall asleep. His childish giggles which made me smile. Was it normal to fixate myself on one person like that? No, but I was far from normal.

My thoughts cut off abruptly right then as I turned my attention to the young boy standing at the right side of my crib. He was gazing at me and my twin with curiosity in his eyes. Now that he had my attention, a happy grin spread across his face.

"Imouto,Otouto." He stuck one of his hands through the bars of the crib and let me grasp one of his fingers. I cooed at him and so did Tobirama.

It did not take long for the older boy to find the crib's opening. He pulled on it, pushing one side of the crib's bars down. Then he reached down with his small hands and picked Tobirama up into his arms, as he was the one laying straight before him. The first time I saw him doing that I almost had a panic attack. In my old world-I think I'll start calling it the _Before-_ no one would have trusted such a young child to take care of two babies. Right now he did not even weight a lot of more than we did.

Leaving two infants in the care of a four years old was like asking for a disaster.

It's a good thing that I didn't really care about this supposed disaster. To be honest, I was still not completely convinced that all of this was real. Come on, what were the chances of being reborn into a fictional universe. I would like to think that they were very slim.

I should really start to focus more on the outside world because the next thing I noticed was my new mothers sudden presence in the room. Concentration has never been my forte.

"Are you taking care of your younger siblings,Hashirama-chan?" She asked, while leaning on the doorway with her right shoulder.

 _Senju Ryumi._ That was her name. Earlier I had mentioned that she looked rather creepy, but that wasn't completely true. I might have said that because of her unusual coloring and foreign appearance. The Senju matriarch was a petite woman with soft and feminine facial features. They were a mix between Asian and European. Her unusual coloring made her appear exotic and interesting.

I'm sure that if one does not consider red eyes weird, they might have actually been pretty.

If I had to guess her age, I would say that she was about twenty years old. In my opinion, that was a little young to be a mother of three children, one of them already at the age of four. Maybe that's what made me unable to consider her as my mother. She seemed too young to be one. Too inexperienced. I could clearly see the love shining in her eyes when she gazed upon us. But love wasn't the only thing I could see. Apprehension and nervousness swirled in her ruby red depths. Considering where I was, she probably did not marry Senju Butsuma willingly. The marriage most likely arranged when she was nothing but a babe. In these times woman were nothing more than breeding machines, which means that she must have come from a good family. Taught how to be a 'good wife' for her whole life. The part of me that believed in equality and the morals of my old life wanted to rip something to shreds. I was female as well,would I end up like the woman before me?

''Hai,Oka-sama.'' Hashirama answered, breaking my chain of thoughts once again. I observed the young woman as she approached my crib. Her steps were slow and deliberate. Ryumi was a picture of elegance. The Senju matriarch.

She crouched down in front of Hashirama and stretched her arms out towards the small infant who was curled against his chest. My older brother obliged to her silent demand and gave Tobirama to her. ''Why don't I help you with your siblings?'' Ryumi pointed with a dainty finger towards a corner of the room. ''There are some blankets in the corner. Can you get them? Like this we will be able to put Tobirama and Hisako outside of the crib.''

Hashirama practically ran to get the blankets, almost tripping on the materials when he finally had them in his arms. The four years old bounced slightly on his feet as he stood in front of Ryumi. The woman smiled at her son in appreciation. Still holding Tobirama with one arm, she helped her oldest child spread the blanket on the floor. Finishing the task,the woman put my twin gently on the light green blanket. Then she stood up once again and leaned over my crib. Looking up at my new mother, I spared her a smile.

"Aren't you a sweet thing?" She stroked my cheek with her right hand. "You gave us quiet a scare when you were born. It was rather...unexpected."

Well, wasn't she a sweet thing. I wanted to snort. But, yeah, that was me Hisako, the unexpected child. In my mind I sighted. It could have been worse.

Obviously Riyumi did not wait for an answer(I was a baby,after all). The Senju matriarch reached out to me with her arms and picked me up. Just as gently as she did with my twin, the young woman lowered me on the blanket. I immediately wiggled as close as I could get towards Tobirama and enjoyed my new found freedom. No matter how sad that may sound this was a kind of freedom I haven't experienced for some time now. Being out of the crib, without anyone holding and squishing me with their embraces. It's not as if I didn't enjoy the human contact, but everyone needed some time alone and this was probably as alone as I would get for the next few years.

I spend the rest of the evening laying next to my twin brother and bonding with my new family.

* * *

I woke up screaming in the darkness of the night, still relieving the pain I have once gone through. Still seeing the siblings in front of my eyes. My mind trapped in a place I have long ago ceased to belong to. I did not see Tobirama's face shifting with worry. I did not hear anyone arriving in the room.

 _"What do you think, brother? Shall we proceed to the next stage?" The blonde girl asked, she was rubbing her hands in excitement._

 _''Whatever you wish for, dear sister.''_

Someone wound his arms around me. I knew that it was a male only from how muscular his arms were. Too muscular and rough, not appropriate to hold someone as fragile as I was. The person was going to hurt me like they did. Squeeze me till no air was left in my lungs.

I screamed louder, fighting against my attackers hold. I did not want to be hurt again. What did I do to deserve this?

 _''Please, I'll do anything. Just let me go'' I pleaded silently. No one seemed to hear me._

Someone was saying something. That wasn't English. What was that? Where was I? What was happening? I never asked for this. The voice was deep and somehow familiar. Why was it familiar? Where have I heard it before?

 _Their mad laughter vibrated through the wide warehouse, sending shivers up and down my spine._

Japanese? That must be it. But why would someone try to talk in Japanese to me?

 _Burning pain. I was burning from the inside. Every time I tried to scream, nothing managed to escape my mouth. Bu..._

Oh, that's right. I was at home. I was safe. A nightmare. That's all it was. Nobody would harm me here. I was safe. I was alright.

Slowly, I forced my clenched eyes-Why were they closed to begin with?- to open. It was the face of my new father that greeted me. Senju Butsuma was looking down at my small form. His expression was firm, his body language as well. Yet there was worry shining in his eyes. Worry for his child. For his own flesh and blood.

But could I really be considered to be his daughter? Maybe none of this was real? Perhaps I was nothing more than a body thief? Did I kill his real daughter?

 _No._ I shook my head a little to push away the leftovers of confusion. It wasn't the right time and neither the right place to think about such things. Butsuma probably already thought that there was something wrong with me. I did not need for this suspicions to get worse.

Through my tear filled eyes I gazed into his. My new father was looking down at me, has been observing me for some time now. While he mostly seemed to be impassive, I could still see the ounce of worry in his dark brown orbs. In contrary to my previous thoughts, his hold on me wasn't tight. It was rather gentle. Surprising as it was that he came to help me, I was grateful for that. Ryumi wouldn't have stayed so calm and if Tobirama even tried to help me I would have probably hurt him. For Butsuma my weak hits and kicks weren't even worth mentioning, but Tobirama was still a child and those panicked attacks would have certainly left bruises behind. I would have never forgiven myself for hurting him. Just imagining such scenario made my skin crawl.

''What has gotten into you,Hisako?'' The clan head's deep voice rumbled. That one question carried through the whole nursery, breaking the short silence that had enveloped it.

Being a child made it impossible for me to answer him, yet that did not stop me from reassuring him. Slowly, I let a small smile appear on my face. The smile wasn't big and toothy, but it was it did its work perfectly; reassuring Butsuma.

''You're calm again? You made half of the household wake up in alarm.'' He mused, shifting me slightly in his arms.

Half of the household? Oh. Ninja, that's right. The way I have been shrieking they probably thought that someone was trying to take us away or that we were under attack. But it wasn't my fault that half of the clan was filled with crazy and paranoid ninja who could hear through walls. Nope, not my fault at all that they all woke up, ready to slaughter anyone that came near us.

I giggled inappropriately, suddenly finding the whole situation extremely funny. Luckily, Butsuma attributed my behavior to me being a baby.

''Otou-sama?'' A bleary voice mumbled. Little Hashirama was standing at the entrance of the room, tiredly rubbing at his left eye. I must have given quiet the disheveled picture as Hashirama's eyes widened audibly when they fell upon me. ''What wrong with Hisako?''

Senju Butsuma looked down at his oldest child and said, ''You should not be here,Hashirama. Everything is fine.''

Hashirama wasn't convinced, of that I was sure. The way his childish face scrunched up and his gaze searched my body for any injuries spoke volumes. Instead of listening to our father's unspoken demand and going to his room, he moved a few steps forward. ''I heard crying,Otou-sama.''

Butsuma muttered something which sounded like ''Of course you did.'', but I couldn't be sure. He knelled down so that he could look into his son's eyes. Searching for something and obviously finding it, the young man(Butsuma did not look much older than twenty.) stretched his arms out and handed me over to Hashirama. ''You may hold her for a little while. After that you will go to sleep.''

''Hai,Otou-sama.'' Hashirama cradled affectionately against his chest. He was still worried about me and that was something I couldn't allow. I could worry my new father and mother. I could worry the clan. I could worry everyone but my brothers. They did not deserve it. And so I smiled widely at my brother, softly touching his face with my small hands. I forced myself to push those horrid memories into the back of my mind and pretended that everything was alright. I was a selfish person. If I had to I would even sacrifice Ryumi to keep myself alive. The only ones I would never harm were my brothers. They did not deserve such a betrayal. I would protect them as long as I was alive in this goddamn universe.

It took some time, but I managed to convince him. Hashirama was a sweet and innocent little boy and he would grow up to be a wonderful man. He would become a fighter, a clan head and the leader of the future Konohagakure no Sato. I would stand at his side till he reached all of his goals and even then I would still remain there. Hashirama and Tobirama were my brothers. Nothing would ever change that.

Once Hashirama left the room, Butsuma put me into the crib. I fell asleep, snuggled against my twins side, not having any nightmares through the rest of the night.

* * *

Being a baby was many things. Above all else humiliating. I was mentally sixteen, trapped in the body of a child.I thrived for independence, yet it was something I couldn't achieve. My motor skills were currently worse than that of a drunk trying to walk in a straight line. I could barely move my limbs properly. I did not have the strength to lift a...plate for example. My sight only recently got better and, oh, let's not forget that I was fucking small compared to the other people. So even if I could move properly, I still wouldn't be able to reach anything.

Isn't that fantastic? Note the sarcasm.

The worst thing about this whole situation was that I couldn't even do the most mundane things on my own. Bathing and using the toilet. I'm not a shy person, but that doesn't mean that I appreciate other people seeing me constantly naked.

The linen diapers weren't the worst thing in the world, but that did not stop them from being weird. Sometimes my skin itched because of them. Ignoring that fact completely, it felt bizarre to use them. I was taught to use a toilet and now I suddenly had to completely ignore those teachings and relief myself into a diaper. Unpleasant and humiliating, that's what it was.

I'm sure you're asking yourself why I am even talking about this. Currently a servant of the Senju clan was bathing me and my brother, while I was praying that she did not manage to get too much water in my ears. I hated to have water in my ear.

At least the water was warm. Even if I had no idea how they kept it that way. In these times flowing water did not exist, so they had to have heated it previously. Considering that the tube we were bathed in was more of a large bowl and we have already spend more than a half hour inside of it, the water should have long started to get cold.

It didn't. Like all the other things I did not understand in this new life, I blamed this function on Chakra. It must have been some weird Chakra trick. Regrettably, I did not know enough about the energy to be really able to tell you anything about it.

But I must admit, the shampoos or oils rally did smell good. Lavender and some other flower. I liked it.

Amusingly, my dear twin did not seem to share my opinion. Shrieking loudly, while the servant tried to wash him. Said servant looked quiet annoyed. She probably did not like children or would start hatting them after this experience. Fortunately, I did not like her either. The woman seemed to stuck up, continuously muttering about our misbehavior.

If you haven't noticed yet, old lady, we are babies. We do not know what is good or bad. At least my brother didn't. But this was a completely different universe, which means that it also has completely different morals and behavioral standards. I didn't know anything about those, so they had to excuse my misbehavior. Besides after all that has happened to me, I had the right to be little hysterical. That's what I kept telling myself,anyway.

When I heard Tobirama cry out again, granting on the woman's nerves even more, I wished that I could cheer him on.

Go Tobi, go Tobi, go Tobi!

It's such a shame that something like this wouldn't be possible. Especially because I couldn't really speak right now. Being a baby did not mean that I couldn't cheer him on in other ways. And that's exactly what I did. On the outside I played the role of the innocent baby that I was. Which means that I smiled brightly, giggled at my brothers attics and clapped my hands in excitement. The water flowing out of the bathtub was only an added bonus. I am sure that the lady could use some more work.

"I will never do this for Kyomi again. The next time she can ask someone else to take over her duties.'' The dark-haired woman muttered once more under her breath. "I hate these brats.''

The hate was mutual.

The she-devil finished our bathing time with pouring a bowl of water over each of our faces. I sputtered in indignation, but it must have looked more like a cute pout. My dear brother just started to wail louder. That's what she got for being mean to us. Serves her well.

Having dried us off, the servant wrapped one small blanket around each of us. The way she did this left us no space to move.

Game on it was.

I joined my wailing brother in dissatisfaction. The servant, I think Keiko was her name, picked Tobirama up with one arm and me with the other one, ignoring our discomfort completely. Briskly walking down the hallway toward our nursery, she never noticed the shoji doors behind us swinging open.

''What is going on here?'' My new mother's voice carried over our crying.

Keiko froze in place momentarily. Slowly, forcing herself to move, she turned around to face my mother. Not once did her gaze meet the matriarch's eyes. She kept it lowered in submission. ''Ryumi-sama.''

Ryumi narrowed her eyes dangerously. ''Why are my children crying as if they were being tortured? Speak up, girl.''

"I was just bathing them, Ryumi-sama. Both of them seemed to dislike it.'' She never raised her head.

The matriarch took a few steps forward, a frown contort her face. ''Where is Kyomi? She was the one I ordered to take care of them.'' She pointed her hand slightly towards us. ''Why pray tell were you the one doing this?''

Keiko gulped nervously. ''I was told to...'' Ryumi did not let her finish her sentence. ''And who _ordered_ you to do it?''

''No one,Ryumi-sama.''

My new mother nodded her head, eyes hard like steel. ''Exactly. No one ordered you to do it _. Kyomi was ordered to do it_. I trusted her with the safety of my children. Obviously, my trust was misplaced.'' She gritted her teeth. ''Such disobedience will not be accepted.''

Ryumi reached out with her hands. Tears were still falling down our faces. ''Give them to me.'' I was the first one she picked up, gently nestling me against her chest. ''Go find Kyomi. I am sure that my husband will be more than delighted to have a talk about disobedience with you later.''

Keiko trembled slightly. ''Hai,Ryumi-sama'' She scurried of as fast as she could, not once looking behind.

I must admit that I never thought that delicate and elegant Senju Ryumi could be this scary. Was that a slight killing intent I felt coming off of her when she was lecturing Keiko?

I really did not want to get on her bad side. Ninja or not, she was a scary woman.

The moment Keiko was gone and we were in the safety of our mothers arms, our crying ceased. Tobirama even smiled up at her, while I giggled slightly.

''Do not worry, my children. Oka-san will take care of you.''

I believed her.

* * *

I did not know much about children. In the _Before_ I was an only child. There weren't any much younger cousins to take care of. Only once did I babysit my 10 years old cousin, I was fourteen at that time. All this contributes to the fact that I didn't know anything about children. I did not know how to behave, what my new parents expected of me or how fast I was allowed to develop without it seeming strange. So I decided early in this new life that I would use my older twin brother as an example.

And now, here is my problem. I had no knowledge about child development, yet I was pretty sure that it shouldn't be as fast as Tobirama's was. We were six month old when he started to crawl. I, of course, followed not far behind. We were seven months old when he started to walk. That was something I couldn't copy as easily. Each time I tried to haul myself up, I did not have the strength to do it. My muscles still to underdeveloped and weak to carry my own weight. I was pretty sure that Tobirama didn't have a lot of more strength than I did. Later, if I didn't become some kind of Tsunade, he most likely would but it was still to early for something like this.

So how did he do it? Why wasn't I able to do it?

The answer was easy. _Chakra._

From what I know Chakra is a form of life energy that all living beings produce to some degree. Almost everything in this universe has chakra; the humans, the animals, the plants and even the air. Whoever or whatever runs out of chakra will die. The energy itself has two components: Physical and spiritual energy. The physical energy comes from the body and can be increased through training. It gets larger while one grows. Then there is spiritual energy which comes from the mind. I believe it has something to do with the intelligence, maturity or experience a person has. This theory would explain why Hatake Kakashi managed to graduate at such an young age.

Anyway, every person in this universe possesses chakra; they were born with it. I was as well but before I came here I knew a life without this energy. Which brings me to my biggest problem, while my brother managed to unconsciously use chakra to enhance his muscle mass, I needed to focus to do the same. I needed to guide it from my _hara_ to my limbs. To my arms so that I would manage to haul myself up and to my legs so that they could carry my weight.

That's the tricky part. Chakra control wasn't easy. Because Chakra was so unfamiliar to me, I did not have a problem with finding it. But guiding it through my body was a completely other thing. This energy was a living entity. It did not want to be controlled. Especially by a young toddler.

It took me four weeks to manage doing it. And even then I couldn't manage to hold it for a long period. Everyday I trained. For the first couple of them nothing happened. The energy did not move out of my _hara_. Fortunately, some progress started to show after the first week of trying. It wasn't much but I could feel it moving toward my arms. In the third week I managed to fill my legs and arms with the energy. In fourth week I could hold it long enough to walk a few steps. Tobirama was still better than I was, but he had more training.

The only thing I did not understand was why I got tired so easily. I should have had more Chakra than Tobirama-I was mentally older than he was because of which I should have a lot spiritual energy-, yet it seemed that he could use it longer than I could.

Perhaps I should ponder about this later, I thought as I watched my older twin brother trip over his own feet. I said that he was better than me, that did not make him perfect. Considering that Hashirama managed to catch him in the last second before he hit the ground, Lady Luck must really like Tobirama.

The white haired toddler squealed in delight. ''Hashi,Hashi.''

''Now,now Otouto. You need to be more cautious.'' Our older brother picked Tobirama up and turned around to look at me. By the time our eyes met, I was already halfway across the clearing.

What clearing you ask? Well, we were currently residing in the garden. Let's just say that young Tobirama had a mischievous streak. As I was mentally older than my twin, I should have tried to stop him. By now I knew my twin good enough, thus I didn't even try to. He wouldn't have listened anyway. It was safer for me to accompany him and make sure that he wouldn't hurt himself, than let him out of my sight so that he could wander alone in the compound of a ninja clan. When we arrived at the entrance to the garden it was easy enough to convince him to stay. The garden was something new for my twin, so he wanted to explore it just as much as I did.

''Up, Hashi, up.'' I said to the boy who would once become a legend. Wasn't it awesome that I could boss him around like that? It was, I know you are jealous.

As he was not strong enough to carry the both of us, the older boy sat down onto the lush green grass and pulled each of us onto his lap. Tobirama was sitting on his right leg, I on his left. In such a position, Hashirama gave us the perfect opportunity to play with his hair. One might think that without all the products my old world contained-they did not have any real shampoo here- his hair would be dry or greasy, yet it was the complete opposite. I have never touched such soft and silky hair before. When I got older I would have to as him what he did with it. In the _Before_ some girls would have killed for such hair.

''Oi,Tobirama. Don't rip it out.'' My older brother held my twins closed hand in his own. The younger boy had dark brown hair strands stuck between his fingers.

I snickered and tugged a little stronger than necessary on his hair. ''Not you too,Hisako.''

The Senju heir tried to scowl at us. It looked more like a cute frown. Oh Kami, why did we all have to be so adorable. Maybe we could use it to our advantage? World domination? Everyone would bow before us and our adorableness. Insert mad laughter.

Covering up my inner thoughts, I smiled innocently up at my brother. ''Me good?''

Tobirama copied my action. ''Me good?''

We really were two halves of a whole. Identical twins. I can assure you that if it weren't for our different genders and my slightly girly clothes no one would be able to tell us apart. Perhaps I should be a tomboy in the near future? Wouldn't it be just awesome to confuse the shit out of people? I can already imagine that there would be at least one person left sputtering after confusing me with my brother.

Back to the topic. Hashirama had no chance in wining against us. ''Yes. You're good.''

* * *

Tobirama stood in front of me. Determination written all over his face. ''Hisa,play.''

It was obviously meant to be a demand, but come on, how could I take a pouting toddler seriously. He was puffing out his pudgy cheeks and pointing at me with one of his fingers. A bossy little boy. His behavior was so adorable that I just wanted to squeal. It's a good thing that I didn't. Wouldn't want to traumatize my brother.

Tobirama's adorableness served him well because it stopped me from denying him almost anything. He knew that the greatest weapon he had against me were his damn puppy-dog eyes.

Was I being too dramatic? Probably.

I sighted a little and pointed a finger in his direction. ''Tobi hide?''

I really should stop calling him Tobi, as I am sure he wouldn't appreciate being called after a future villain. The situation would only get worse if he ever found out that said villain was an Uchiha. Those darn Uchiha. Horrible bastards. Monsters. Motherfuckers. These are only a few of the insults my clan likes to use. They can be quiet creative when they need or want to be.

I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts. I did not really understand that Senju-Uchiha hatred. I mean I knew where it came from, but that did not mean that I could understand or feel it myself. Although, I am quiet aware that I wouldn't be so sympathetic if they ever hurt someone whom I cared about, I do hope that I would be mature enough to differ between a person and its clan. The inability to do something like that could end with a disaster. Especially in this world, where some people are worse than nuclear bombs. In the _Before_ a good example for such a failure would be the Trojan war. It was Paris who took Helen from the Greeks. A whole nation payed for the sins of one of their own. But were those 'innocent' people really at fault? Why did they have to pay for the sins of one man and woman? Did they deserve it?

Certainly not. It was Paris's and Helen's stupidity and Menelaus's anger which caused it all, yet thousands of people died.

The white haired boy nodded his head vigorously, snapping me out of my thoughts. Tobirama used his tiny palms to cover my eyes, trying to convey a message without using the vocabulary he did not posses. The only reason why I immediately understood what he wanted from me was that I was mentally way older than my physical appearance. My eyelashes must have brushed against his palms when I closed my eyes because he removed his hands from my face. Following that action, I could hear his light footsteps leaving the room.

 _One, two, three, four, five..._

I counted slowly in English, never opening my eyes. _Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two..._

I already knew where Tobirama would most likely hide. The garden was a obvious destination as it was one of his favorite places.

 _Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven..._

Hide and seek was a game that I showed to Tobirama. We haven't met any other children our age till now, so he didn't really know any games himself. But from what I have seen and heard children in this world liked playing 'ninja'. Not that they really had much time to do so before they became true killers anyway. Hashirama was only three years old when his training started, by five Butsuma would take him into the field for the first time. People shouldn't wonder why there are so many sociopaths or psychopaths in this world with the ways that they are raising their own children. Most just can't take what they have been through and break. The only reason this system was still working was because of the social conditioning. Children were raised since their infancy to be killers. The non-shinobi saw the killers in our clan as heroes who protected us from the monsters who lived outside of the clan compound. The strong ones,those who showed great promise, were given special lessons so that they could deal with what was awaiting them. Death was depicted as something normal. Common. And those who did not show any special talents were used as cannon fodder.

 _Forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty._

I opened my eyes and looked towards the door. I had heard Tobirama walking in the right direction, which predictably lead to the garden. Slowly, I made my way towards the was a traditional Japanese shoji screen, made of translucent paper in a wooden frame. The hallway had the traditional sliding doors everywhere instead of normal walls and doors. Every one of them lead to a different room. The hallway itself was pretty narrow and long. To enter the garden I had to pass through a slightly larger screen, which was located almost at the end of the hallway.

I reached said entrance with unsteady steps. My movement still wasn't perfectly controlled. At times I had to stop walking and lean on the wall to stop myself from tumbling. This little hindrance did not keep me from following my brother.

In the garden I pretended that I didn't notice the few strands of white hair sticking out from behind a sakura tree. I hummed the sweet lullaby that Ryumi liked to sing for us and started to walk on the grass. I looked behind pillars and bushes,larger stones and under the porch. It was then that I heard someone giggling. The giggle wasn't loud but the wind carried it to me.

I sneaked towards the sakura tree, making sure that Tobirama wouldn't notice me coming up to him from behind. Just as I saw him turning around I jumped forward and threw myself on him. We both tumbled down on the grass, a startled shriek leaving my brother's lips. I was positioned above Tobirama, holding my weight off him with my own arms so that I wouldn't crush.

I giggled, ''Found Tobi.''

Using his slightly larger size Tobirama exchanged our position. This was the way that our twisting war started. None of us wanted to loose it, so we continued to roll around in the grass.

At the end of the day, Ryumi wasn't delighted about our behavior. Let's just say that our clothes have seen better days. I don't believe that anyone would ever manage to wash the mud and grass stains out of them.

* * *

Nightmare. It is an unpleasant and often frightening dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind. The dream may contain situations of discomfort, psychological or physical terror. The affected wakes up in a state of distress and may be unable to fall asleep again. Nightmares have many causes, some can be psychological. One of those so called 'psychological causes' may be a traumatic experience. Dying the way I did could probably be seen as one of those traumatic events.

Since I have arrived in this world I have tried to convince myself that everything was alright. I played the role of the innocent child almost perfectly. But deep inside of me, I knew that I wasn't alright. With all that has happened to me I did not need a psychiatrist to tell me what was wrong with my mind. Roughly, I could do it myself.

I was suffering from a case of PTSD, otherwise known as post-traumatic stress disorder. That's quiet obvious. No need to deny it. I was certain that a professional could tell me a little more about my situation, but as there aren't any of those here whom I could trust telling about my previous life, there wont be any help for me.

Every sane person would think that I was batshit crazy. Not that I was not, but you get it, don't you? Furthermore I had no idea what they do here with people who are not completely sane in the mind and aren't eager to find out.

You know, more than once I wished that I could just forget my old life. I would never go back there. And even if I would, it would take me years to reach that point. Before I was reborn I needed to cross another milestone. Death.

But that does not matter right now.

Forgetting would help me. If I couldn't remember the _Before,_ my nightmares and horrid flashbacks would stop. I would be able to start a new life here. I would stop clinging to the idea of a normal life. I would stop clinging to my old family. I would be free.

I wished that I could forget the _Before._ I wished that I did not have to feel as if I couldn't breath every time I glimpsed blonde hair.

 _He was smirking down at me,his sister at his side. With each cry of pain that escaped my lips, his expression seemed to get more dangerous. He enjoyed torturing me._

Having to remember _him_ each time I saw something that reminded me of that evening was slowly killing me.

 _Oh god, make it make it stop. I'll do whatever it takes. Just make it stop._

Yes, make it stop. Please Kami-sama, make me forget.

* * *

Robert Frost once said, "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

He was right. I was a prime example for that. Despite all the difficulties I've had since I found myself in this universe, it did not change the fact that time flew by. That life continued. The days merged together and before I knew what was happening weeks and months have passed. By now I have spend a year here. A year in this new place with this new family. It's mind blowing, really. Where did all that time go? I did not know.

The memories of the _Before_ were still a painful reminder of everything that I have lost. But this pain seemed to get duller over time. Everyday those memories seemed to recede a little bit more in the back of my mind, making it possible for me to be only Senju Hisako instead of Julia Evans. Should I be afraid of this? Probably. I cannot be sure that I am forgetting about my previous life, because even if there are some things that I cannot truly remember anymore, there are those things that are always at the forefront of my mind. I may not remember the name of my old school or all the friends that I once had, but I still know that I am a reincarnation. I know that I do not belong here. Sometimes,when look into a mirror I expect to see a completely other face than I do. The most prominent features that I expect to see are green eyes and auburn hair. I never do and that often leaves me in a moment of confusion.

Through the last year I have wished more than once to forget and now that it's most likely happening, I don't know what to feel. Will I soon forget about everything? Maybe there would be some triggers that would make me remember certain events? Or maybe I wasn't forgetting anything? Was I just trying to convince myself that I was forgetting?

The answer is: I don't know.

There were so many things that I didn't know. And didn't that sound pathetic. I was a sixteen year old girl trapped in a toddlers body, who knew the future of the world she was now living in. This knowledge may have applied to a far off future, but I could still seriously fuck with this universe. For example, what would happen if I stopped Hashirama from ever befriending Madara? What would happen if I got rid of Madara before he ever reached his full power? I am not foolish enough to believe that I could beat him when we got older. But right now he was still a child. Weak. If I somehow managed to direct my fathers attention towards him, it would be Madara's end. This probably wouldn't be only Madara's end,but the Uchiha's as well. Who else than Madara could fight Hashirama in the later years. No one. Besides I could stop the inclusion of one of the noble clans into Konoha.

There were so many things I could do. But did I really want that? Did I really want to play god?

 _No._ I wasn't interested in becoming some kind of hero or villain. Why would I try to change history? The only times I would do that would be to protect those I care about. Only then would I use the knowledge that I posses.

The disappearing rays of sunlight caught my attention, I turned my face to catch their last warmth. We were in the garden once again, this time accompanied by our mother. Hashirma was sitting on the lush and green grass, while the rest of us were situated on the porch. Tobirama and I were each resting our heads on one of our mothers legs. Ryumi was gently stroking our hair and telling us a story. I think it was meant to be some kind of birthday present. As it turned out, people here did not really celebrate birthdays. Only few important milestones were. Our first birthday wasn't one of them.

''...In order to protect the world from the fearsome beast, the Sage of the Six Paths developed a powerful technique and used it to defeat the demon.'' She paused. ''As a final precaution, he used Chibaku Tensei to entomb the physical remains of the demon's body within a gigantic stone prison, which he hurled into the heavens, creating the moon. Because of his deeds he soon became hailed as a god.''

Tobirama's light snores were carried to me by the wind. He had fallen asleep during mother's tale. Hashirama looked just as tired as I was. His eyelids were dropping, his posture hunched. My own childish body longed for sleep, eyes already falling shut.

Ryumi was giving us a soft look, the smile on her face full of tranquility. Without a break, she kept stroking our hair. We watched the sun disappear behind the horizon and the beings of the night awaken; the dancing fireflies lightened up the dark night. The garden shone with an otherworldly glow. It was beautiful. I may not have properly celebrated my birthday for the first time, didn't receive any material gifts, yet I had to admit that this was one of the best birthdays I ever had. Surrounded by the few people I have come to care about, I felt serene.


	2. Of Innocence and Corruption

**I'm back dear readers. I know it has been some time but I tried my best. Before we proceed with the second chapter, I would like to thank you for all the favorites, follows and reviews. I wasn't expecting that many of them.**

 **The song used in this chapter is not mine. It's a Japanese Star festival song named Bamboo leaves are rustling.**

 **Rating for this chapter: T for mild swearing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Hisako and all the changes I make are mine.**

 **Summary: Shakespeare. I never liked his plays. So how come that I somehow landed in my own twisted version of Romeo and Juliet, where the feuding families were replaced by warring clans and instead of honorable knights there were shinobi everywhere? SI-OC**

 **Have fun.**

* * *

 _Chapter 2  
_

 _Of Innocence and Corruption_

* * *

 _Do you recall, not long ago_  
 _We would walk on the sidewalk_  
 _Innocent, remember?_  
 _All we did was care for each other_

 _But the night was warm_  
 _We were bold and young_  
 _All around the wind blows_  
 _We would only hold on to let go_

 _Blow a kiss, fire a gun_  
 _We need someone to lean on_  
 _Blow a kiss, fire a gun_  
 _All we need is somebody to lean on_

 _― Major Lazer, Lean On_

* * *

Senju Butsuma was freaking awesome. No, forget that. Ninja were freaking awesome.

As a child I often imagined what it would be like to posses some kind of special ability. Like flying, teleportation, _manipulating the elements._ I believe that everyone thought at least once or twice about this. In the _Before_ such abilities were nothing but unreachable dreams, here they were possible. I knew that since the moment I realized that I was in Naruto. Regrettably, knowing and seeing something with ones own eyes were two completely different things. Watching my father and one of my clan members train proved that. As childish as it may sound, I was awed. I don't think that there were really any words which could describe what was transpiring in front of me. Humans moving with impossible speeds, swords clanking together, _dragons made of water flying through the air._ Amazing, mesmerizing, marvelous. None of those words were good enough.

And so I sat on the sidelines of a training field, eyes wide in amazement and mouth open. My twin was on my right, not much more composed than I was. We must have given quiet the amusing sight, the giggles that left the lips of three girls that passed by us indicated that.

" Look, look!" Tobirama shouted while pointing at our father with his finger. I really needed to teach him some manners. But that could be done later, right now there were much more interesting things to do; like watching my father using doton ninjutsu. Or like I preferred to call it: Earth bending.

 _Physics don't mean anything in this world_ , this was the only thing going through my head as I watched giant stones flying in the air. With giant I mean ones as large as a house. Yep, never expected to see something like that.

"Close your mouth, Hisako. Such behavior is not acceptable for a lady." Ryumi scolded gently. A lady, my ass. I haven't been a lady in the _Before_ and I certainly didn't aim to become one here. But I still obeyed the order, after all I did not want to cross my mother. Besides, the droll dripping down my chin wasn't pleasant.

I watched smugly as my mother scolded Tobirama after noticing that he was laughing at me. His cheeks flushed slightly and he turned away from us to continue watching the fight. Deciding that my brother didn't need any teasing, I started observing the fight as well. This was better than any movie I have ever watched. Just epic. And now that I think about it, I would really like to watch a movie. Curled against the couch in front of a large flat screen with some snacks at hand, that would have been fantastic. A girl could dream.

I was getting nostalgic again. Not good. Not good at all. Though, I really did miss modern technologies.

As I observed the friendly spar, hope bloomed inside of me. I hoped that one day I could be as strong as the two men in front of me. Strong enough to protect my family and friends. To withstand the horrible future that was awaiting us in this world. I had the genes to be strong. As the child of a shinobi, a clan head nonetheless, I had higher chakra reserves than a civilian. My body was different as well. Stronger if one might say. Even if my mother wasn't a shinobi, it did not change the fact that _both_ of my parents came from a long line of shinobi. Their fathers, their grandfathers, their great-grandfathers all fought on the battlefield. It was their blood which now flowed through my veins, giving me strength to survive in this cruel world.

But before I would ever become a ninja I would have to solve another problem. Sexism. Being the only daughter of a clan head had its perks and cons. With a bat of my eyelashes I could particularly get everything I wanted. The problem were the expectations people put upon me. Here, I was to be an obedient wife. I was quiet sure that my father was already considering some arranged marriage which would benefit the clan.

I certainly wouldn't play along with such a spiel. There were other, more important things to do.

Like fighting. I would just have to convince Butsuma that I was strong enough for this lifestyle and that I would be and excellent addition to the clan forces. Then I would just have to fight against the preconceptions most in this world possessed. That would be fun. Note the sarcasm.

The fight was slowly coming to an end. Both partakers were panting slightly with exertion and had scratches covering their whole bodies. It was a wonder that they could still stand on their own. The spar had been going on for hours.

In a burst of speed the clan head appeared in front of his current 'enemy' and kicked him in the ribs. The loud crack was very audible. Matsuo, that was the name I heard my mother using earlier, was pushed backwards and sent flying through the air. He managed to block the next punch that father aimed at him, twisting in a way that must have fucking hurt his broken ribs. The small hiss that escaped his lips confirmed my suspicions.

Matsuo drew a kunai from one of his leg holsters and parried the shuriken father had thrown his way. The clang of metal vibrated through the air.

Butsuma was already on him before the last shuriken managed to make contact with the grass. In a flurry of attacks, which I couldn't follow with my untrained eyes, father managed to get the upper hand over Matsuo.

The spar ended with Butsuma holding a sharp kunai to Matsuo's throat.

No one clapped. I could only guess that something like this was deemed to be inappropriate. They did not train here to entertain someone, but to get stronger. This wasn't for fun. They did it to protect the clan and survive. Did you notice how I mentioned their survival after the clan? That was actually the Senju motto: The clan above all else.

And didn't that sound morbid?

* * *

Teething was a bitch. It started a few months after I was born and got only worse as time passed. At the beginning I didn't notice much of it, a slight tingling sensation. Maybe an itch. Soon the itching got unbearable and changed into pain. This lead to almost everything becoming my chewing toy. I couldn't help it, no matter how disgusting it was to chew on some old wooden toys. The only consolation was Tobirama, who suffered as much as I did. Was I a bad person for saying that? Hell no. More than once in all this time _my hands_ had been chosen as my brothers favorite _chewing_ toys and pain relievers. I wasn't a picky person but there were certainly things that I enjoyed more than my older brother salivating on my hands. Yuck.

I got my revenge by returning the favor.

However, teething presented me with new possibilities. Food. I still couldn't eat food which needed to be chewed thoroughly. I didn't have enough teeth for that. Nevertheless, it seemed like toddling and teething showed our parents that we were ready for something more solid than milk. Finally. Vegetable mash wasn't and never would be my favorite food but it was certainly better than milk. I didn't believe that I would be capable to drink milk again any time soon.

What this change in food brought with itself was a realization. I should have expected it but I didn't and so I was immensely surprised. My taste buds have changed. What brought this upon me were carrots. Or carrot mash. In the _Before_ I had despised carrots with the deepest parts of my soul. I found them disgusting. I had loved bitter stuff and hated sweets. Now, everything has changed and the carrot mash proved that. After my mother managed to get some of that stuff into my mouth-which wasn't an easy task to accomplish-I couldn't get enough of it. And thus my sweet tooth was born.

This so called sweet tooth lead me to my current predicament. Ryumi did not like us eating sweets. With us I mean Tobirama and me. He shared my love for sweets wholeheartedly. Anyway, Ryumi was one of those people who liked keeping it healthy. Sweets weren't healthy. Butsuma wouldn't fight her on this. After all, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

And so we had to procure our daily dose of sweets by illegal means; sneaking into the kitchen and using our adorableness on the servants. I didn't feel guilty about it. Why should I? If they were stupid enough to let us manipulate them into doing our bidding, then they would have to pay the consequences. Besides, I quiet enjoyed the treats.

''Hisa!'' Tobirama pulled at my arm and dragged me into one of the many rooms which could be found in the mansion. Before I could begin to wonder why he did that, I heard the light footsteps outside of the room. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I did not hear anyone approaching us. I held my breath and waited till the steps subsided. Sliding the door slightly open, only so that my head could fit through the gap, I looked down the hallway. No one was there, so I turned around and grinned. ''We safe. Come Tobi.''

I tugged on my brother's hand and started to guide him down the hallway towards the kitchen. We both were cautious and highly alert. This was a game we both enjoyed. The thrill of evading capture made us all giddy and the possibility of punishment did nothing to steer us away. We were little devils in disguise.

Tiptoeing around the floorboards that we knew would creek if we stepped on them, the both of us arrived at the entrance to the kitchen. I could already smell the delicious food which was being cooked behind that door. Fish and vegetables. Rice and noodles. Fruits and _sweets._ Success.

Sliding the shoji screen open, we crept inside. Our chosen target was at the other side of the kitchen, stirring something in a big pot. Senju Michiko, the kitchen matron. Our dealer. She just couldn't say 'no' to us. We moved across the room as if we belonged there to begin with. It's curious, I noticed that if one pretended to truly belong somewhere, people tended to not wonder about the intruding presence. Or they were just to preoccupied to care about the presence of two mere children. Either way served us well.

''One side, other side?'' I cocked my head to the left, watching our targets every move. Tobirama squinted his eyes and nodded his head seriously. And then we were on our way, each of us stopping by one of Michiko's legs. The woman was so busy that she never noticed us arriving. I liked to think that we were just that good at this whole sneaking thing. We tugged on the hem of her long kimono and looked up, cutely batting our eyelashes.

The kitchen matron startled and jumped slightly. A sign that showed us that she had no ninja training. It was easy to differ a shinobi from a civilian. Especially during such moments.

''Tobirama-sama, Hisako-hime. What can I do for you?'' It was so weird when people who were older than us-even considering the age of my previous life-treated us with such respect. _Princess._ I certainly did not want to be a princess. Particularly, because I knew what being a princess truly meant; being sheltered and treated like the most fragile thing in the world, having your whole life arranged by other people and becoming a very sought out incubator. Thanks, but no thanks. Sadly, being the only daughter and youngest child of a clan head warranted such title. For now I would have to live with it.

''Kami.'' I pointed at the freshly made, egg-flavored, rice flour-based sugary treats that literally melted in your mouth. I loved those things. They were _divine._ You get it? Kami and divine. No? Alright, I admit, that was bad.

''Kimi balls, Hisako-hime, kimi balls.'' She sighted exasperated. Michiko has been trying to correct that mistake for a few weeks now. It just never worked. For me those little sweets would always be kami balls. I enjoyed irritating her too much to change that.

Rolling her eyes, the kitchen matron used a pair of chopsticks to put a few balls on a new plate. She liked to coat them in honey which made the little treats extremely sticky. We did not mind. Together with Tobirama I used my fingers to stuff the sweets into our mouths. There they melted and I moaned in satisfaction. I loved those little shits. Regrettably, we did not manage to convince Michiko that it would be a good idea to give us another plate. It was worth to ask.

Following our little adventure, Tobirama was almost immediately bored again. That is till he found a stack of napkins to occupy him. No kidding, a stack of napkins. He put one of his honeyed hands against it and giggled. Then he turned around and looked at me. The mischief in his eyes could have been seen for miles.

While waving his hand in front of my face, the one which had a napkin stuck onto it, Tobirama grinned at me. ''Look Hisa. Chawa.''

''It's chakra, Tobi.'' I pinched his nose lightly. Ever since we have watched a few young clan members doing the leaf exercise he couldn't stop trying to repeat it. Our sticky hands gave my dear twin the perfect opportunity to play pretend. Who was I to destroy the fun?

Reaching out with my right hand I put it firmly against the stack of napkins, the other one I used to poke Tobirama in the forehead. For a second I froze. That was such an Itachi move. I shuddered. I did not have anything against Uchiha Itachi. Once upon a time he used to be my favorite character. Back then that's all that he was. A character in some unimportant story. Now, he was real or would be real. A boy of the so called 'cursed clan' who would give up on everything for the safety of his village and brother. I didn't believe that I would ever be able to comprehend his actions. But what I was able to comprehend was the love from and for a sibling. Unconditional. There wasn't anything I wouldn't do for my brothers. I could only hope that I would never end up like that boy. Never make the mistakes that he made. Because let's be honest, he made a fucking lot of them.

Continuing my previous actions, I ripped a piece of the napkin which was attached to my hand off and glued it to my brother's forehead. Clapping and giggling, I exclaimed, "Chakra."

Tobirama's eyes widened in delight, which looked quiet comical with the napkin piece stuck to his forehead. He repeated my actions and stuck napkins to every uncovered part of his skin. He made me do it as well. There wasn't any saying 'no' to him.

At the end we looked like a pair of wannabe mummies.

* * *

Shinobi training started early in life. Not many noticed it. The social conditioning and the small games were so imperceptible that merely shinobi themselves knew the truth about them. We were only sixteen months old when our father showed us a _funny_ game. It was meant to help us with our hand-eye coordination and the future forming of hand sings. To make it more interesting for children the game was a competition, as well as teamwork training. Sitting opposite of each other, we clapped our hands together, my palms against Tobirama's. While doing this we needed to match the movement of our fingers in the rhythm of a song.

 _Bamboo leaves are rustling, rustling,_  
 _Swaying close to the roof's edge,_  
 _Oh,how the stars are twinkling, twinkling,_  
 _Gold and silver grains of sand._

 _Five wishes I have written_  
 _The stars are twinkling_  
 _and watching from the sky._

Obviously, it sounded more like garbage coming from our lips. Nothing else could be expected from not even two-years-old. Secretly I liked to think that we didn't sound so bad. Just a few leaning tones.

A shame it was that this game did not entertain me near enough, but knowing its purpose made me more willing to play it. Actually, I was the one to almost always initiate the game. Tobirama seemed quiet bored with it, however, I did not give him the chance to refuse me. This game would help him in the future, even if not by much. This was the beginning of our training. I wouldn't allow my brother to get lazy. Nope, I would make sure that the little brat became strong enough to protect himself. Strong enough to become the Hokage in the future.

Sometimes it was so easy to forget the things that I knew from the _Before._ Konoha. The leaders that my brothers would one day be. The loss we all would experience. It was so, so _very_ easy. Then I remembered all the things that I could change. The ways in which I could help my brothers. And I knew that I could never forget. Forgetting would be unforgivable.

What was the saying again? Wait, I've got it.

 _Knowledge equals responsibility._ That couldn't be anymore true. While I knew about the events that were awaiting us, no one else could. Imagine what would happen if this knowledge fell in the wrong hands. Uchiha Madara wasn't the only one who could seriously screw with this world. Imagine some other overpowered psychopath getting his hands on this knowledge. No matter what, this wouldn't end well.

Anyhow, I let my thoughts wander once again. What was I talking about the beginning? Hmm... Training, yes. Twice a day mother helped us train our body. A few stretches here, another set of condition improving there. Mother, I believed, was trying to help and teach us something as long as she could. Soon our true training would start and then there wouldn't be anything she could help us with. Being a civilian would hinder her in helping us train. Sad but true

Yep, I lived in a world were the only thing that was truly needed wasn't family or even money, but raw power. And intelligence, of course. But that should be obvious. Think about what would happen if a powerhouse like Uzumaki Naruto were to be completely stupid. Madara would have been the least of the United Nations worries, because there would have been only two possible endings for such scenario. The powerhouse, in this case Naruto, would have been to stupid and lazy to do anything bad and could have been killed easily or he would have started to destroy everything he disliked or that stood in his path. The later would have been a real problem.

There were three very important points on my to do list.

1\. Protecting my brothers

2\. Survival

3\. Obtaining power

Written down like this it sounded like less than it actually was. I wasn't even convinced that I could actually protect myself. Considering this, how would I manage to protect two other people?

Better to not think about this right now. Not as long as I couldn't do anything about it. I have been doing this a lot in the last year. Pushing thoughts and concerns to the back of my mind, I mean. That couldn't be healthy.

Nah, I would be fine.

I hope.

Back to more important matters. Otherwise known as Hashirama who was currently 'chasing' me. He decided that it would be funny to threaten me with a tickling attack. If you didn't notice my panic yet, let me tell you that that I was ticklish. Like ultra mega ticklish.

My brother knew that, naturally. A little sadist, that's what he was. '' No, no! Bad Hashi! No!''

My shrieking could be heard through the whole compound, resonating through the narrow hallway. I almost stumbled a few times. However, my diaper would have cushioned the fall so I wouldn't have hurt myself. Those could be quiet useful.

Despite my small and slow steps, I almost managed to collide with a servant while rounding the corner. In the last second I caught her long kimono with my hands and pushed myself upwards. This unexpected predicament gave me a momentum, catapulting me down the hallway. An appreciated head start.

''Hisako!''Hashirama had exclaimed in shock as I ran against the woman. For a moment his face was pale as a sheet. I just continued to run and stuck my tongue out to him.

Turning around the next corner, I opened the door which was nearest to me and slipped into some kind of storage room. My brother's trampling echoed through the corridor as he passed the room.

You know when someone is being hunted in Horror movies-Most times it's some stupid blonde. Not that I think that all blondes are stupid. But I believe that it's quiet understandable why I have an aversion to blondes.-and somehow always hides in a closet or behind some furniture. Those times the victims always feel some misguided sense of safety, which is destroyed only moments later when their murderer arrives from behind them. Their heart, which had slowly started to calm down skyrockets and almost burst out of their chests. There are only two possible ways in which they feel. Uncontrollable anxiety or weary resignation.

At least I felt weary resignation-Not sure if those two situations can be truly compared.- when my brother slid the shoji screens violently open and gave me one of those creepy grins. Hashirama did not even give me a chance to plead for mercy, he threw himself at me and started to tickle my soul out of me.

I did not stop laughing for hours.

* * *

Rain was rare in the Land of fire. A heavy storm even more so.

Normally the rain only sprinkled, creating perfect conditions for the wide spread flora. The land's riches and temperature created the perfect place to establish a village. It must have been one of the reasons for why Hashirama once founded Konoha here. The almost perfect flora and fauna made the village highly independent. Which was good because relying on another country could easily become very deadly. Suna had really bad luck. My brothers would truly manage to snag the best land.

I am sure you're asking yourself why I am talking about the weather. After all it is one of the most common conversation topics. But well, we aren't holding a conversation. So let me tell you a most enjoyable story.

It was a few days after Hashirama's fifth birthday-which ironically has been celebrated-that another one of my so called panic attacks happened.

When I woke up that night, I did not know if I should be thankful or resentful towards whatever god that sent me here (If it was a god, anyway). I never decided on one of those because an all devouring anxiety soon filled me. As silently as I could I untangled myself from the futon I have been using with Tobirama for about a week now and tumbled to the safest place I could find within seconds. It happened to be gap between the wall and some furniture.

And so I could only hide between the closet and the wall as the lightning boomed outside. With my palms pressed against my ears, I tried to blend out the loud noise. The ominous sound just wouldn't stop. Moreover, the bright light that flashed in front of my terrified eyes, each time a thunderbolt hit the earth, only served to increase my anxiety. I was trembling, so very, _very_ much.

 _Sparks flew everywhere. The electricity passed through my veins, my blood served as a perfect conductor. Hot, burning pain, that's all I knew now._

 _I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. They were numb now. Or simply gone._

 _What did I do to deserve this?_

Why wasn't there anyone to save me? Why did this happen to me? Why not someone else?

 _Would my family miss me when I was gone? How long would it take for them to notice that something was wrong? Would they ever find my body?_

 _Would they ever catch the killers? Would they ever find out the truth about my disappearance?_

Those cruel voices echoed through my head.

 _I hated them. I hated them more than I ever hated someone. I wanted them to be punished. To feel the pain and fear that I felt. For all I cared they could burn in hell._

Storms normally did not last so long. Did some higher being up there hate me that much? Maybe that was it. Maybe I have angered someone in a previous life. Knowing my luck this theory could be possible. Especially because reincarnation itself was possible.

 _If there are some remains left, I would like them to be cremated._

"Hisa?'' I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. My wide eyes focused on the form of my twin. I did not think, I reacted. Wrapping my arms around Tobirama, I started to sob. It wasn't loud, after all I didn't want to wake my parents. My brother, to my relief, did not immediately ask what was wrong. He pulled me in a hug and stroked my hair. Did he know how soothing it was?

It took some time for me to calm down a little bit. I was still trembling and tears were still rolling down my cheeks, but I wasn't sobbing anymore. Only then did my brother pry my small fists away from his yukata, so that he could look into my eyes. They were so familiar and understanding. Sometimes they seemed older than he actually was. He still did not ask, but I could see the inquiry in his ruby red depths.

I answered his silent question with a whisper. '' I'm scared, Tobi.''

He turned his head and looked out of the window just as a lightning bolt struck the earth. Tobirama did not even flinch. Wasn't I pathetic? I was panicking over something my almost two years old brother didn't fear the slightest. I felt like an idiot.

''It just light. It can't hurt Hisa.'' My twin leaned his forehead against mine. I could feel the warmth radiating off his skin. Ruby eyes, so identical to mine, held my gaze. ''I protect Hisa, no matter what.''

A wobbly smile crawled onto my lips and I closed my eyes peacefully. ''Hisa loves Tobi.''

Tobirama grabbed my right hand and pulled me onto my feet. He steered me towards the window and said, ''Tobi loves Hisa.''

And wasn't he adorable?

I would have cooed because of his cuteness if it hadn't been for a thunderbolt lightning the sky. The only thing that kept me from panicking was my brother's secure hold. He stopped moving when he felt me tense. We were only a few feet away from the window.''See. It can't hurt you.'' My brother tugged on my hand. He could be quiet stubborn if he wanted to be. The little brat wouldn't ever stop before he got what he wanted.

Which meant that he did not give up until we were seated against the wall under the window, wrapped up in a blanket. Tobirama made me stay there till the storm was over.

Somehow, this did not bother me as much as it should have. I could not say that this therapy really helped me.(In the _Before_ Tobirama would have been a good psychiatrist. The only problem with this was that my dear twin wasn't a nice person. There were only a handful of people he liked. The rest was unlucky enough to often end up at the end of his wrath. Being a toddler stopped this 'wrath' from being very elaborated. I could only imagine how it would be in the future. Shudder. Poor people.)

But with him by my side, I felt stronger than ever. Didn't that sound cheesy? Yep, it totally did.

* * *

My introduction into society wasn't anything grand. It was unspectacular and irritating. After all, mother decided that it would be a great idea to introduce me to the wives of two clan elders. They were two ancient hags, who just couldn't keep their mouths shut and their hands to themselves. Niriko- _sama_ and Noriko- _sama,_ a pair of identical twins. Or like I preferred to call them: Loony and the ice block. This actually sounded like the title of a very bad comedy show. It's such a shame that my life wasn't a comedy. That would have been nice.

At least nicer than my current situation. Niriko(Loony) found pinching my cheeks very exciting. Why did she even start doing this to me? People generally disliked being pinched like this. Besides, I wasn't some kind of puppet or toy for her to be played with. And then there was the gushing. Kami, I may have looked like a child but I was mentally way older than that. Sometimes, I could hardly accept my family treating me like some cute little girl, but not some random woman. Her being a part of the clan did not change anything. I didn't know her. She was a stranger.

And so I may have gone against my mother's orders of being polite to the two _ladies_ that we would be meeting. I just couldn't stop myself from slapping the old woman's hand away. The scandalized look she send my way pleased me more than it probably should have. But in my defense, they deserved it. After all they did not even wait till we sat down before they started throwing hidden insults at my mother. Apparently they did not like the fact that a woman not even half their age held more power in the clan than they ever would. Not that my mother really had much power, but as the Senju matriarch she had certainly more influence than them. This meeting did not start good and somehow I knew that it wouldn't end any better.

Using the opportunity that was given to me, I hurried to my mother's side and plopped down besides her. This behavior earned me a scathing look from Noriko( The ice block.).

A servant soon entered the room and served us some tea. With us I meant me as well. Did they really expect me to drink tea from such expensive looking cups? Firstly: That was just a waiting game for me to destroy the cups. My hands still didn't have much in the coordination department and I could seriously hurt myself if I accidental let the cup fall. Secondly: I don't believe that my taste buts would currently enjoy green tea. From what I remember green tea was often times at least a little bitter. I couldn't stand bitter things. Just eww.

I am sure that this will change in the future but right now there wouldn't be anything enjoyable about green tea.

''Your daughter seems to be quit the... _wild one_ from what I have heard.''Did Noriko just really insult me? That fucking bitch. I wasn't _wild._ That sounded as if she wanted to say that I was some kind of animal. Which I wasn't. I liked to think that I was strong willed.

Ryumi plastered a fake smile on her face, eyes full of disapproval. '' I wouldn't call her _wild._ Strong willed, maybe. Don't you think, Noriko- _sama_?''

Hell, yeah. Go mamma, go mamma.

''Of course, Ryumi- _sama.''_ Noriko sipped her tea, while Niriko spoke up, ''I have heard that the girl has quiet a strong relationship with her two brothers. That can't be good, considering their different futures.''

She couldn't be implying what I think she was implying. _No._ I wouldn't let that happen.

My mother's hands clenched around her cup, for a moment I feared that she would break it. Then she became a picture of calmness once again. ''What do you propose then, Niriko _-sama,_ Noriko- _sama_? To separate a pair of twins? I am sure that _you_ especially know how gruesome such action would be.''

That seemed to hit a sore spot. Both elderly woman cringed. For a moment I pitied them, but then I remembered what they had implied and that pity became nonexistent.

Through clenched teeth Noriko answered, ''Naturally no.''

Ryumi clapped her hands once and an overly sweet smile crawled upon her face. ''Great. Now that we have finished talking about the way I am raising my children, why don't you tell me about the rumors I have been hearing? Supposedly your granddaughter has been seen wandering around with an Uchiha, Noriko-sama?''

And wasn't my mother just a fantastic woman. Maybe I would make her into my role model.

Anger was a powerful emotion. It made you do things that you would never do otherwise. Noriko loosing her composure and raising her voice was one of those instances were anger overruled rational thinking.''That's outrageous! I do not know where these rumors have come from but they are all a big lie.'' Her face was red with anger as she spat those words.

My eyes sparkled with mischief and I decided to interfere. '' Oka-sama once said that every lie is at least partly true.''

How I enjoyed the sight of Noriko sputtering dumbfound. It was totally worth the lecture I would be most likely receiving later. Yup, the warning hand on my knee indicated that.

Mother took a sip of her tea and smiled, "I apologize for my daughter's behavior." She did not sound sorry at all.

Both twins narrowed their eyes. For a moment the thought if Tobirama and I looked so similar as well crossed my mind. If they hadn't been wearing two different kimonos, one of them could have been mistaken for a reflection. Niriko opened her mouth, "That's quiet alright. The child doesn't know what she is talking about."

And now she was treating me like a stupid little thing. And earlier I had thought that I couldn't dislike her even more. It looks like I was wrong. Stupid old hags. If they wanted a war, then a war they would get. _Just wait till I am older. You wont know what hit you,_ I thought vindictively.

Yep, I was plotting my revenge against two old woman. Maybe I was finally loosing it. With 'it' I mean my sanity, if you hadn't known. It's good that telepathy wasn't a thing in this clan or I might have been send to the asylum a long time ago.

Besides she was indirectly insulting my mother too. The nerve that woman had.

Picking up one of the little sweets (It looked like cupcakes, but I wasn't entirely convinced.) the servant had brought along with the tea, mother put in front of me on a small plate. She really did know how to shut me up. For a moment I weighed the pros and cons of stuffing that little thing into my mouth, such an action would have surely irritated the old hags, but the idea evaporated when I felt mother squeeze my knee in warning. I took small and deliberate bites of the heavenly biscuit.

''I believe the time has come for us to talk about something more... _pleasant.''_ And that was exactly when I stopped following the conversation. You know those all too great topics people use to talk about with someone they dislike. The weather. Their latest shopping trip. _Gossip._ I really had no interest in how inappropriate Mayumi, a lower clan member, looked in her kimono last Saturday or how a week ago someone had seen a male Kaguya sneak into the clan compound to watch our woman bathing in the hot springs.

And I was supposedly the stupid one.

* * *

Hashirama was only five years old when he was first send into the field. That day started like any other one. I was woken up by one of the servants and prepared for the day. She dressed me, did my hair and all the other things people tend to do in the morning. I was escorted to the dining room, where I would normally eat breakfast with the rest of my family. That day the rest of my family consisted only of my mother and twin brother.

I was surprised, but I didn't think much about it. After all, this had happened before. Sometimes father started Hashirama's training earlier than usual or made him do some special exercise. I wasn't even sure that I wanted to know what this extra exercise was.

The only indication that something was wrong was my mother's tense silence. Normally she would chatter continuously during breakfast. Once again I didn't think to much about it. Maybe she hadn't slept enough that night because of which she was in a bad mood? There were dark rings under her eyes, which supported that idea.

Deep down I knew that something was wrong, yet preferred to pretend that it wasn't. I lied to myself for the rest of the day. Through our daily garden exploration and lunch. I ignored the dreadful feeling which at times seemed to suffocate me. I was a very good liar and a master in ignoring my problems.

Dinner arrived and Hashirama still hadn't shown his face. Slowly Tobirama was noticing that something was wrong. How couldn't he? Till then there hadn't been a day we have spend without seeing our older brother at least once. It was already getting dark, but Hashirama still hadn't come for us.

And so he did the thing I dreaded the most. He asked mother.

''Oka-sama, where is Nii-san?'' It was such an innocent question.

It shouldn't have caused such a reaction. Mother's head snapped in his direction, her eyes wide. She was pale as freshly fallen snow and I could see the sweat slowly gathering at her temple. Ryumi gulped once, twice. ''What do you mean, Tobirama?''

I narrowed my eyes. ''Where is Nii-san? He wasn't here today.''

Her gaze moved towards me. She ran a hand through her long hair. ''Do you want some kimi balls?'' Not even waiting for an answer, she turned towards the door to call out for a servant.

''Oka-sama!'' I pressed before one word could even leave her mouth. I was becoming hysterical. '' _Where is Nii-san?_ _''_

Just for a second, Ryumi froze. Her lip trembled slightly as she looked at us. ''He was taken outside of the compound for his first mission.''

For a moment everything stopped moving. Then this crushing weight was pressed to my chest and I couldn't breath. Black spots appeared before my eyes. The world was spinning.

I fainted.

Hashirama came back approximately two days later. The mission had been a patrol just a few miles outside of the compound. No complications occurred during _this_ mission. My elder brother was still smiling when he came back. His eyes still held their childish innocence in them.

But for how long would he be able to keep that innocence?

* * *

''What do you mean Oka-sama? I am already an older brother.'' Hashirama shook his head, not understanding what our mother wanted from us. But I did. I knew exactly what she meant. _You're all going to be elder siblings. Two older brothers and one older sister,_ Ryumi had told us just seconds ago. She was pregnant. But how was that possible? And I did not mean the birds and bees. I knew enough about them. Just like I knew enough about this world. The future of a whole generation. The truth about a past not many knew about. But I did not know this. What did that mean for my younger sibling?

I should have been delighted about this news. I was going to be an older sister and I was sure that I was going to love this new sibling just like I loved Tobirama and Hashirama. Instead of being happy I was terrified. I did not know about this sibling. Was it going to be a girl or a boy? How will it look like? Will it survive in this cruel world?

And that was my problem. What did 'not knowing' mean? Was it just too unimportant to be ever mentioned? Have I forgotten about it like about many other things of my previous life? Did my presence here change something? Or will my future sibling die before it can be ever remembered?

The thought of him or her dying before it reached adulthood scared me. The thought of loosing someone precious to me scared me. Yet I knew that it was inevitable.

I shook my head and looked at Ryumi. She seemed anxious. ''Yes, you are Hashirama. What I meant with this is that I am with child.''

My oldest brother looked confused. He did not seem to get what our mother was saying. I wasn't even certain that he knew where children came from. The birds and bees weren't a familiar concept. Poor Ryumi. ''There's a new sibling growing inside my stomach.'' She sighted tiredly. ''Maybe you remember that before Tobirama and Hisako were born my stomach was really big?''

Hashirama rubbed his head thoughtfully. ''You mean the time when you looked like a watermelon?''

A laugh escaped me. I couldn't stop it. Especially as I watched a dark red blush coloring Ryumi's cheeks. This was just too precious. What made this funnier was that Hashirama did not even know that he just insulted our mother. Hail young children and their obliviousness. Or maybe it was some weird ninja thing. Maybe every generation had an oblivious idiot. That would explain Naruto.

''Yes, that time.'' Ryumi said, using her left hand to pinch one of Hashirama's cheeks. The dark haired boy ignored this completely and stretched out one of his hands. With slight admiration he asked, ''Can I touch?''

Instead of answering Ryumi started to open her kimono. Luckily it wasn't a formal one. They were really hard to take off. I have been a witness to it once and could only hope that I would never have to wear one of those. I already missed the jeans and shorts. As a ninja I should hopefully be able to wear some trousers or leggings.

Mother managed to open it pretty fast because she only had to unbind a sash. Her stomach was still flat but now that I knew what to search for I could clearly feel the small and weak new chakra building up there. Being able to feel my new sibling so early was astounding. This small energy bubble would become my little brother or sister in only a few months. The chakra itself was actually quiet similar to Hashirama's and Tobirama's. Water was their primary nature and right now it still wasn't developed enough to show big differences. It was calm, yet it had the potential to become dangerous. There wasn't any other way to describe it. From the feel of it the unborn child would be water-natured as well.

Ryumi took Hashirama's small hand into her own and put it gently against her stomach. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then my brother's face scrunched up in confusion and frustration. ''I can't feel anything.''

Ryumi laughed with humor. ''It is still too young and small, my child. Right now we can't even tell if it is a boy or a girl.''

I stepped forward and put my hand next to Hashirama's without asking for permission. Tobirama copied my actions and frowned slightly. I have never touched a pregnant woman's stomach before. It was...weird. Logically, I knew that there was this new life growing inside of her. One day it would be a human being. I could even feel its chakra. However I was disappointed. I had no idea what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't this. Nothing happened. I pouted. ''I can't feel.''

Tobirama nodded his head. He shared my opinion.''Me neither.''

Our mother's tired laughter followed those statements.


	3. Of Surprises and Heart Attacks

**Sorry for the wait everyone!**

 **In this chapter the story truly begins. The previous two chapters were more of a prologue because I did not want to leave out the first two years of Hisako's life.**

 **From now on the chapters will be from about 4K to 7K words long.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows.**

 **Rating for this chapter: K**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Hisako and all the changes I make are mine.**

 **Summary: Shakespeare. I never liked his plays. So how come that I somehow landed in my own twisted version of Romeo and Juliet, where the feuding families were replaced by warring clans and instead of honorable knights there were shinobi everywhere? SI-OC**

 **Have fun.**

* * *

 _Chapter 3_

 _Of Surprises and Heart Attacks_

* * *

 _So breakable, unbreakable  
I'm shaking but unshakable  
The real you I've found at last_

 _I'm standing alone in this world that keeps on changing_  
 _But hiding away, my true self is fading!_  
 _I hope you give up_  
 _There's nothing left to see..._  
 _No, don't look at me_  
 _I'm standing in this world that someone imagined_  
 _I never want to hurt you, so until the end_  
 _I'm begging you, please, just to remember me..._  
 _As clear as I used to be_

 _― Tokyo Ghoul, Unravel_

* * *

 _"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."  
― Mahatma Gandhi_

* * *

You know those days when you wake up in the morning and want to go straight back to sleep again? Those mornings where you immediately _know_ that a shitty day was awaiting you and the best solution seems to be staying in bed under your covers, not leaving your room till the next morning arrives. Well, today was one of those days for me.

Like each day Haruka, a girl who had been personally chosen by our mother to take care of us while she was pregnant, came into our room a few hours after sunrise with the mission to wake us up. The girl had no mercy, not even for cute little children like us. She shook our shoulders and if we didn't respond she proceeded with ripping our covers off of us. And if that didn't work the girl screeched like a banshee. Sometimes there was nothing that I would have enjoyed more than murdering her. But then I remembered that to do that I would have to stand up. I would never give her that satisfaction.

That did not mean that she really gave me a choice in that matter. I always forced myself to stand up when she threatened to pour a bucket of cold water over me. I never doubted that she would do it.

That morning wasn't anything pleasant. And I certainly wasn't in a good mood.

What made everything even more unbearable was that no one seemed to share my opinion. Everything was just _so_ fucking lovely. The weather was perfect, not too hot or too cold. There were actually freaking birds chirping outside of my room. It was annoying. Couldn't they just shut up? Apparently not. You know what's even worse? Tobirama was so bubbly today that I wanted to puke. I loved my brother, I really did, but sometimes he really needed to shut up and be silent.

''Come, come Hisako! Oka-sama is waiting.'' He shoved me into Haruka and started to prepare himself as good as a soon to be three years old could. He put on his yukata the wrong way around. Sadly, his cuteness did not improve my bad mood. It only made Haruka irritated.

If the day continued going on like this, I would most likely commit homicide. My father wouldn't like that.

''Stop moving, Hisako-hime. Your hair is almost presentable.'' To emphasize her statement she pulled lightly on my hair. It still hurt. She wove my hair into two separate braids and tied them with small cute bows. They were blue like the yukata that I was wearing. '' Now it is ready.''

And then she patted my head like one would pet a freaking dog. This day couldn't get any worse. Wait, have I just jinxed myself? Kami, show me some mercy.

''Now, now Hisako-hime. You shouldn't frown like this or you just might get wrinkles.'' I was a fucking three years-old! ''Come. Butsuma-sama and Ryumi-sama are waiting for your arrival.''

Haruka took one hand from each of us and lead us out of the room. She held our hands in a tight but not painful grip. The girl was a fast learner; on the first day she had spend with us, Tobirama accidentally broke some family heirloom in the hallway because she let us run around without supervision. Her expression after seeing the damage was comical.

Fun days, fun days.

Anyway, I did not get the point of standing up that early. And yes, I wanted to talk about this again. I mean, it was most likely about seven a.m. Did they want us to develop some kind of routine? After all nothing else made sense. We were still too young to help with any chores. Awake we were only a nuisance which needed to be taken care of.

"Hurry, Hisako-hime, Tobirama-sama. Your parents are awaiting you." She started dragging us down the hallway, only slowing down when one of us stumbled a little.

We arrived at the dinning room in what felt like seconds(It was probably a few minutes but lets ignore that.). Sliding the shoji screen open, Haruka entered the room with each of us practically hanging down from one of her hands.

Mother and father were already there, waiting for us. Even Hashirama, who was normally the last to arrive, sat at the table. Luckily, there wasn't any tension in the air and neither did father glare at Haruka for being late. This meant that nothing abnormal was happening. Just a family breakfast.

" Butsuma-sama, Ryumi-sama, Hashirama-sama." Haruka bowed once and after receiving permission from father she left the room. Or rather almost ran out of it.

I bounced into my families direction and sat down at the low table. You have no idea how grateful I was for my mother's thoughtfulness. It was her who made sure that Tobirama and I received a pair of those children chop sticks. And don't you dare to laugh at me. You have no idea how hard it is to use them with my childish hands. Especially because I was used to forks.

The food was really good though. Only the best for Senju main family. The best being Oyakodon-chicken and eggs on rice- with miso soup.

''I have decided to take Tobirama and Hisako with me to the market place.'' Ryumi bit her lip. She sounded uncertain.

My father looked up from his plate. ''When?''

I hated this. I really did. If you haven't noticed what I mean then let me enlighten you; my mother needed to ask for my father's permission to be able to leave the mansion. Without it she wasn't allowed to go. The fact that she was in her last pregnancy month had a lot to do with that but it did not change the point that Ryumi was seen as Butsuma's possession.

Butsuma regarded us all with an intense gaze. For Ryumi's sake I plastered an eager expression on my face. "You may go. Take a guard with you."

Why would we need a guard? We wouldn't be even leaving the compound. There was no safer place outside of the main house than the market place. It was located in the middle of the compound and there were always at least three shinobi patrolling around it. All Senju got their food, clothes and weapons from there, thus it was one of the best protected areas on our land. Why would we need a creepy stalker bodyguard there?

Mother's fingers clenched around her chopsticks. "Of course."

Father nodded his head, ignoring mother's discontent completely. "Good." He put his chopsticks down on the low table. "I will be taking Hashirama outside of the compound to train. I expect you to be back before us."

Kami, how fast did that man eat? I just finished munching my first bite.

"We will." Ryumi put a piece of chicken into her mouth.

I continued to eat mine as well. That thing was divine. So divine that I couldn't stop myself from stealing Tobirama's last piece when he turned around to look at Hashirama.

" Nii-san? Will you show us chakra after training." Yep, Tobirama still had a slight chakra obsession.

Hashirama smiled slightly. I sometimes wondered where he took all his patience from; Tobirama could be very annoying sometimes. "Only when we have time later. If we don't, I will show it to you on another day. Tomorrow you have calligraphy lessons, don't you?"

Tobirama pouted. "But they are so boring."

"Well, if you try hard to learn something tomorrow then I promise to show you." My oldest brother ruffled my twins hair.

He was manipulating Tobirama into participating in our next lesson. Not that it wasn't necessary; while Tobirama might have been exceptionally intelligent and bright for his age, maybe even a prodigy, he was still a child. Even if he showed some talent at the beginning, the monotonous lessons quickly bored him and he lost his interests in them. Father was irritated because of that. Tobirama was his second son, if anything were to happen to Hashirama then my twin would become his heir. He needed to be adequately educated for that.

"Fine." My dear twin muttered silently and turned towards his plate.

It took my brother only a few seconds to notice that his last chicken piece was missing, but when he finally did he cried out in outrage, "Hisako!"

I must admit that I was impressed by the glare he threw my way. "You stole my chicken." My twin pointed an accusing finger in my direction.

I widened my eyes in faux innocence. "I didn't."

"Did." He was getting slightly red with anger. I was tempted to continue this accusation game by repeating my earlier statement but the reprimanding look mother sent my way stopped me from doing so. You just did not cross mother dearest.

" Hisako, Tobirama, finish your breakfast. We shall be leaving soon." She put down her chopsticks and sat up a little straighter. Or as straight as a woman in her ninth pregnancy month could.

We stayed silent. For a few minutes. That was a record, it really was. Apparently Tombirama then thought that the appropriate time for some payback had come. He did not even hide his intensions, the brat just reached out with his hand and grabbed a piece of my chicken. Then he shoved it into his mouth.

I didn't know if I should have been proud or irritated. So I tried to steal another piece of his chicken, only to remember that I had already eaten the last one. Tobirama grinned, whereas Ryumi sighted in exasperation.

A small fond smile appeared on mother's face. ''Now that there is no chicken left, have you finished?''

Aww, she knew us so well. ''Hai, Oka-sama.'' We chorused.

The answer seemed to satisfy her, so she only let out a small sigh before nodding for us to stand up. We then walked over to the door and opened it widely. Mother was really huge because of which she needed a lot of space to fit through. I was lucky that telepathy wasn't a thing in our clan, otherwise she would have made roasted Hisako out of me. I didn't believe that I would have tasted good.

We soon arrived at the _Genkan_ , the entryway, where we slipped our shoes on. Or rather flip flop lookalikes called _Zōri,_ you know, the ones always worn with white socks. I had a pair of those as well while Tobirama preferred to wear _Geta._

Slowly we walked to the market place. Tobirama and I always a few paces before mother. We were actually playing tag and trying to not stray too far away from mother's side.

''You're it.'' My brother laughed in delight while he pocked my side. Then he was gone, running in front of me. I did what any other self respecting child would do in my situation; I squealed and ran after him.

It was a wonder that we did not run into anyone as we got nearer to the bustling market place. More and more people started surrounding us, no one payed attention to the two little children who were running around the place. That is till they noticed our mother and their demeanor immediately changed. Many were looking at her, only a few showing her respect by bowing and muttering 'Ryumi-sama'. I was glad for that as I was sure that the attention made mother quiet uncomfortable.

Anyway, as pathetic as it may sound, I have never been to this market place before. Three years and not once have I visited this place. It wasn't anything grand like it used to be in the _Before._ There were about a dozen stands. Each stand sold something else. Clothes, vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, one with milk and eggs. I could also see a blacksmith.

The smell of fish was heavy in the air. Don't get me wrong, I liked fish but the smell was really intense. Luckily, it got better after we passed the smelling stand.

I tapped Tobirama's shoulder and ran ahead of him. ''You're it.''

This continued till we were out of breath. At the same time mother decided to stop at a fruit stand. It was small and didn't look particularly fancy, but it had the most fantastic apples I have ever seen. They were the size of a large paprika and had a lovely mix of colors. My mouth watered.

''Ryumi-sama.'' The vendor bowed slightly. ''How may I help you?''

Mother looked thoughtful for a moment. ''I would like to have two nashi, three peaches, this basket full of strawberries.'' She pointed at one of the linen baskets she had taken from home. ''And one melon.''

 _No apples,_ I thought and frowned slightly. I pouted and tugged slightly on mother's kimono. '' Oka-sama, Oka-sama.''

Ryumi looked down at me with a disapproving frown. ''Not now, Hisako.''

Frowning now myself, I continued to tug on her kimono. ''But Oka-sama. The apples.''

I wasn't quiet sure if I used the right word, for all I knew I could have said ducks instead of apples. Sometimes I still had slight problems with the language. But I did get mother's attention. She looked down at me once again. ''You want an apple?''

I smiled brightly. ''Yes.''

''You too, Tobirama?'' The Senju matriarch gazed at my twin, who just nodded his head in excitement. Having seen his confirmation she turned to the vendor once again. ''Two apples would be nice as well.''

The man regarded us with hidden amusement. ''Of course, Ryumi-sama.''

After everything was packed mother gave the vendor a few coins. She took the strawberry basket, while I carried the other fruits minus the melon, which was given to Tobirama. He was quiet proud because of that, thinking that he carried what was the heaviest. I personally believe that the strawberry basket was a little heavier.

And so we continued walking through the market. I don't think that mother planned on buying anything else, she just enjoyed being outside for once. For the last two months she had been practically a prisoner in her own home. Tobirama's and my situation was quiet similar, with the difference that we did not have someone constantly watching us. I truly pitied Ryumi.

I was so lost in thought that I never noticed the strawberry under my foot. Only after I felt the unpleasant sensation of stepping at something squashy-For a moment I thought it was poop.- did I notice that something was wrong. There were strawberries all around me on the ground. Turning around I saw the linen basket lying slightly behind me on the street.

''Oi, the strawberries.'' I looked up and froze momentarily. Mother was pale, very pale. Her face scrunched up and worry in her eyes. What was happening?

And did she just pee her...Wait, no, no, no. Oh god. This couldn't be happening. This was the only thing going through my head as I watched mother clutch her stomach in pain. She had contractions! Oh my god! My baby sibling was coming!

I was probably panicking more than the pregnant woman herself. And I was supposed to be an adult. But oh god. The baby was coming!

Later I would thank the heavens for the guardian father send with us. Instead of panicking like us, he kept a cool head and reacted fast. In mere seconds he appeared at mother's side and grabbed her elbow before she could topple over. His gaze moved to me and Tobirama, then somewhere behind us.

''I will take care of them.'' The female voice came from behind me. It was a pretty girl in her teens, seventeen at most. She had light brown hair and green eyes.

The guardian, Tamaki, Takuma or something sighted in relief. ''Bring them to the main house.''

''Hai, Kaneki-sensei.'' He was gone before she finished talking, my mother along with him.

Tobirama seemed to be completely confused. He had no idea of what was going on and so he looked at me in search for an answer. ''Hisa?''

I tried to smile reassuringly. ''Our baby brother or sister is coming.''

His eyes widened and he grinned. ''Where?''

Oh boy. Tobirama still didn't get the whole baby concept. Deciding that it wasn't the right time to explain it I turned towards our knew 'nanny'. She seemed as lost as I was. '' Let us pick up the strawberries and then I will bring you home.''

That's exactly what we did. We picked up the strawberries and put them into the basket. Then the girl, she told us to call her Naomi, took hold of one hand from each of us and started to lead us home.

Halfway there she needed to start carrying us because we were to tired to continue walking by ourselves. By then she probably regretted volunteering to help.

Entering the mansion, we could instantly hear mother's screams. Kami, all this made me reconsider ever having children myself.

Haruka rounded the corner and took us from Naomi's arms. Then she proceeded leading us in front of mother's room. There the screams were only louder and more menacing. I knew that this day would be horrible. Hopefully my younger sibling would be alright. In these times giving birth could be quiet dangerous. I did not want to think about all the things that could go wrong.

And I didn't because soon father's and Hashirama's arrival offered me the perfect distraction. They must have been inside the compound, otherwise it would have taken them much longer to come back.

I would have laughed at father's expression if I hadn't been so worried myself. He looked worried and worn out. For the first time I saw him for what he truly was. A young man who would be soon the father of four children, whose wife was currently in childbirth, which she might not survive.

Regrettably, there was nothing any of us could do, so we were forced to sit in front of the shoji screens, waiting for the baby to scream.

* * *

We did not have to wait long, about forty minutes if I had to guess. This was mother's forth child, which lessened the labor's duration considerably. I suspected that the contractions had begun some time before Ryumi's water broke and that she must have just written them off as nothing. I did see her flinching from time to time.

The baby's cries followed mother's last blood-curdling scream. They were loud and pierced the air like the whistle of your coach signaling the end of a game. Relief flooded me and made my tense shoulders relax immediately.

A medical-nin shoved the shoji screen open and stepped outside. It was a blue haired-Were did all that colors come from?-woman in her early twenties. Her eyes spotted our father and she spoke up, ''Butsuma-sama. It is a boy.'' I almost snorted. As if the baby being a boy was currently the most important thing. ''Ryumi-sama and the baby are both fine. There weren't any major problems, just a little bleeding.''

Butsuma frowned. ''Bleeding?''

I stood up from my sitting position, attentively listening to what the woman said next. ''After your son was born, some bleeding from the uterus occurred. It could have become a danger for Ryumi-sama if Suzuki-shishou hadn't healed it.''

Father nodded in understanding and asked,''May we go inside?''

In any other situation I might have laughed. Butsuma asking for permission? Hilarious. But this wasn't the right situation and neither the right time.

Moving to the left, the medic raised her arm in a welcoming gesture. ''Of course, Butsuma-sama. But I should advise you to not stay too long. It has been a tiring day for Ryumi-sama and she needs rest.''

Without waiting for anything else-after all the medic gave us her permission-I stepped forward and entered the room. My gaze immediately zeroed in on mother and my new baby brother. She was sitting on a futon and leaning against the wall behind her. The baby- this whole situation was still so surreal to me- was wrapped into a white blanket and cradled into our mother's arms. I have never seen mother looking so exhausted, yet so very _happy._ For a moment I stood frozen in place, not wanting to destroy the beautiful scene in front of me.

As if she could feel my hesitation, mother's attention moved towards me. She smiled softly. ''What are you doing there, Hisako? Come here. You will be the first to meet your baby brother.''

My legs seemed to move of their own accord. I soon found myself kneeling at my mother's bedside, trying to peer at my new sibling's face. It was red and slightly scrunched up. His eyes were closed. Maybe he was sleeping? Babies sleep a lot, don't they?

''Have you already thought of a name?'' My father's voice startled me. I was watching my little brother so intently that I never noticed the rest of my family entering the room. That was...surprising.

Mother nodded her head, while Hashirama and Tobirama sat down besides me. Similarly to me they were peering down at our newest family member. ''Yes. There are three names which I like. Reidama, Kawarama and Hiroto.''

The name ''Kawarama'' tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. My whole family looked at me expectantly. ''I like Kawarama.'' Why did that name seem so familiar? Have I heard it somewhere before? _No._ I shouldn't be thinking about this right now.

''I like Kawarama too.'' Tobirama voiced his opinion.

Father looked at us intently, searching for something and obviously finding it. Then he leaned against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest and nodded in agreement. ''Kawarama he shall be.'' He did not ask to carry his new son. Butsuma seemed content to just observe us all.

Mother, knowing better than trying to pressure father into doing something he did not want to, focused her attention on me. She had this glint in her eyes that made me want to run away and hide in a dark corner. ''Stretch out your arms and do not forget to hold his head, Hisako.''

''Oka-sama I...'' I did not even get to finish my sentence before father interrupted me. ''Hisako, listen to your mother.''

And so I snapped my mouth shut. There was no way that I would fight _both_ of them on this. Or rather there was no chance for me to win such an argument.

I stretched out my arms and prepared them to hold my little brother.

Giving me no chance to decline once again, mother placed little Kawarama into my arms. He was small, so small. Light as well. I studied him, the way his tiny nose scrunched up in displeasure when the sunlight streaming through the open window blinded his light blue eyes, the tuft of blonde hair gracing his small head, and I thought, _I will protect you. No matter what._

I leaned down and kissed his forehead. Some of my open hair fell onto his face, making the little boy giggle cutely. It was the most adorable sight I have ever seen.

''May I? May I?'' Tobirama's voice was excited. He was standing behind me and leaning on my shoulders to get a good view at our younger brother. His weight was pushing me slightly forward, but not enough to be alarming.

While shrugging my shoulders slightly as an indication for Tobirama to move, I made sure that I had a secure hold on Kawarama (I haven't had much to do with infants in the _Before,_ however I was quiet certain that letting Kawarama fall down on his head or something like that would have had really bad consequences.). Then I slowly rose from my sitting position, which was quiet a feet if I might add, and turned towards my twin. He was looking at me expectantly.

''Sit.'' My voice held as much authority as that of a soon to be three years old could. Tobirama obeyed without batting an eyelash. And that was a good thing; the chances of Kawarama getting harmed if anything bad happened were almost nonexistent like this. I was a paranoid little thing.

After my twin sat down properly, I carefully placed our little brother into his arms. ''Hold his head.''

Tobirama adjusted his grip on Kawarama and looked down at him in awe and wonder. Soon a delighted smile graced his lips. ''He's so light.''

Mother laughed loudly at that. ''You and your sister were even lighter than Kawarama when you were born.''

His eyes widened comically. ''Really?''

''Really.'' It was Hashirama who answered. A small smile graced his lips as he gazed upon us.

Tobirama stared at him in disbelieve. He seemed to think that our brother was lying. If I might be honest, I did not believe him either. And I didn't mean the part with us being lighter than Kawarama (Twins weighted generally less than single born children.), no, I mean the part where he claims to remember how much we weighted the day we were born. Young children did not have such a good memory.

''You haven't even held him.'' Tobirama pointed out. He kept sending Hashirama suspicious looks.

Mother luckily decided to cut in before a fight could ensue. ''Hashirama isn't lying Tobirama. It's because you're twins; you shared the...food while you were in my womb, thus weighted less than normal babies.''

''Does that mean that Hashirama doesn't have to share his sweets with us?'' Nope, he did not really get it.

Father covered his laughter with a cough. Mother just sighted in exasperation. But in Tobirama's defense, Ryumi wasn't the best in explaining different things. Mother was many things, however a teacher she was not.

Hashirama patted his head affectionately. ''Don't worry. If you really want sweets, I will get you as much as you want.''

There truly was no other love like the love from a brother. I couldn't stop myself from pinching Hashirama's cheeks. I know, I know, some time ago I complained about people constantly doing the same annoying thing to me. But I just couldn't stop myself. He was so cute at that moment.

And while I watched my family interacting with each other, I couldn't help but think that altogether that day was a good day. One of the last peaceful ones we would probably ever have.


End file.
